As planned, I took my K-Wing list to a local tournament today. I didn’t intend to win any prizes and mostly went to play around with the K-Wing. Even so, I am a bit disappointed by the K-Wing’s performance. It’s more fragile than it seems.

Of the 5 matches I played, I lost 4.

Match 1 – Lethal Twin Laser Turrets

The first game I played showed me an arguably better use of the Twin Laser Turret, which I used on Miranda Doni in the hope of getting the most out of her unique ability.

The two Twin Laser Turrents proved particularly lethal for Miranda Doni in her K-Wing. Shooting twice a turn each, the two Y-Wings put 3 – 4 dice of damage on her most turns. Needless to say, she didn’t last long.

After the K-Wing was gone, my Z-95 Headhunters didn’t stand much of a chance against Dash Rendar, despite the missiles I shot his way.

Match 2 – Victory Against the TIE-Punisher

The only match I won, I went up against a similar „let’s try the new bombers“-list.

This list was build around the TIE-Punisher, piloted in this match by Redline, which came out along with the K-Wing, bringing many similar upgrades to the Imperium.

Redline was supported, oddly enough, by a TIE-Defender and a TIE-Advanced. As high tech as the Imperium gets.

It was a good match-up, as my alpha strike list could really shine with its alpha strike against Redline. Moreover, my Ion Bomb helped me keep the TIE-Defender in place.

The result: today’s one and only victory for Miranda Doni.

Match 3- The Imperium’s Finest

In my third match, I went up against the first hard tournament list.

Darth Vader in a TIE-Advanced with the TIE/x1 Title and Advanced Targeting Computer

Whisper in a TIE-Phantom with Veteran Instincts and Advanced Cloaking Device

Soontir Fel in a TIE-Interceptor with Autothrusters and Push the Limit

Too many very elusive, slippery and hard-to-hit ships assembled there. I even scored a few hits on Whisper, but stood no chance against this lean, mean tournament-maschine.

To Be Continued…

My final two matches and my closing thoughts about the K-Wing in part 2.

The Wave 7 ships for the X-Wing miniatures game are out, including the new K-Wing bomber for the Rebels.

It is easily my favourite among the new ships, both because I have a soft spot for the Rebels and because its Imperial counterpart, the TIE-Punisher, feels too close to the TIE-Bomber, visually and in the game.

So my K-Wing is ordered and should arrive soon. Time to try flying the new Rebel bomber in a tournament. But what kind of list would work?

K-Wing Star Pilot – Miranda Doni

Miranda Doni appears to be the pilot of choice in most ideas for K-King lists. It’s not hard to see why:

Her abilitiy to spend shields to up the damage makes her an excellent weapons platform.

Her ability to regenerate shields by trading in damage dice makes her an excellent end-game-pilot, doubly so given the K-Wing’s turret.

This in mind, here is a fully souped-up Miranda Doni-build I want to try.

It may be a bit much (47 points in a ship), but I hopefully get to try all the different K-Wing tricks and new toys.

A Homing Missile with 5 dice (with Miranda spending a shield) and no evade tokens? Ouch!

Double-tap Laser Turrent with double Focus tokens? A nice end game, allowing Miranda to generate a shield each turn and still deal reasonable damage.

Airen Cracken & the Bandit Wingmen

Miranda is made for end game wars of attrition (I believe).

The rest of my list is made to get her there and eliminate the kind of threads that could take her out with concentrated fire.

Going with the missile-theme, these three z-95 Headhunters, complete with Airen Cracken and his useful lend-others-an-action-ability should provide both an early-game punch to take out a thread quickly and leave me with a few blockers to make life hard for anyone chasing Miranda.

Z-95 – Airen Cracken (19) with Cluster Missiles (4)

Z-95 – Bandit Squadron Pilot (12) with Ion Pulse Missiles (3)

Z-95 – Bandit Squardon Pilot (12) with Advanced Homing Missiles (3)

Missiles in a Tournament? Can it work?

Conventional wisdom has it, missiles and torpedos in X-Wing are rarely worth it, especially in tournaments.

The K-Wing and TIE-Punisher seems largely designed around trying to change that, and with upgrades such as Extra Munititions, they at least get a few more shots.

This list likely isn’t going to win … say .. a regional championship, but with a heavy alpha punch and a solid end-game plan, I am interested to find out what the K-Wing can bring.